Maria Cantwell: “I rise today to impress on my colleagues just how important this legislation is to the workers in the Nation who have…”

“I rise today to impress on my colleagues just how important this legislation is to the workers in the Nation who have borne the weight of this recession that was so exacerbated by the September 11 incidents. My colleagues have heard me say this again and again, but the Pacific Northwest has suffered extraordinarily in the past year. My State of Washington now has the dubious honor of having the second highest unemployment rate in the Nation, behind our neighboring State Oregon. We had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in January--and the insured unemployment rate is above 5 percent. I have analysts in my State who foresee a wave of layoff notices in the pipeline and estimate that the State is going to hit 8 percent unemployment when the February numbers come out later this month. Why is this the case? Well, we have a number of factors at work. I would like to give my colleagues a better understanding of the economic circumstances affecting my State. Even prior to the tragic events of September 11 and even prior to the recession that may have begun in the early months of last year, Washington's economy was facing hurdles. We have seen significant layoffs in aluminum, agriculture, and high technology--due to persistent droughts, the high cost of energy, massive reductions in timber harvests, and declining export markets.”